A well-crafted book that may inspire kids to embark on their own city adventures.
A young girl learns about San Francisco’s history through a fantastic adventure in Fan’s series-starting illustrated chapter book for middle-grade readers.
Mika and her pet unicorn, Polo, begin their adventure in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park while picnicking with her parents near the Japanese Tea Garden. At the garden’s Taiwanese pavilion, Mika “stared at the golden Chinese characters on the pavilion’s bright red columns. Suddenly, they changed before her eyes, spelling out a secret message!” Mika and Polo take a closer look and are transported to the California Academy of Sciences, where they find out that Tyrannosaurus rex is known as the “king of the dinosaurs”; a T. rex skeleton provides them the second clue of their adventure. Further clues take Mika and Polo around San Francisco; along the way, Fan shares informative historical details with her young readers and introduces city landmarks, including a statue of the Greek goddess Nike at Union Station, Lombard Street’s twists and turns, and the Palace of Fine Arts, where Mika receives a magical scepter that allows her to pass through special gateways in time. Throughout, the author weaves engaging facts about San Francisco and its history into a compelling adventure. Soylu’s painterly cartoon illustrations are colorful and whimsical, with a sassy protagonist and an adorable unicorn. (Mika is portrayed with brown skin; her father is noted in the text to be Taiwanese, and her mother is identified as Latina.) The illustrations ably reflect the real-life locations, including the tall, arched bridges of Golden Gate Park; a very simple map of the city is included.
A well-crafted book that may inspire kids to embark on their own city adventures.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9781737938019
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Paradigm Method
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after.
Drake has been selected by the king to serve as a Dragon Master, quite a change for an 8-year-old farmer boy.
The dragons are a secret, and the reason King Roland has them is a mystery, but what is clear is that the Dragon Stone has identified Drake as one of the rare few children who have a special connection with dragons and the ability to serve as a trainer. Drake’s dragon is a long brown creature with, at first, no particular talents that Drake can identify. He calls the dragon Worm. It isn’t long before Drake begins to realize he has a very strong connection with Worm and can share what seem to be his dragon’s thoughts. After one of the other Dragon Masters decides to illicitly take the dragons outside, disaster strikes. The cave they are passing through collapses, blocking the passageway, and then Worm’s special talent becomes evident. The first of a new series of early chapter books, this entry is sure to attract fans. Brief chapters, large print, lots of action, attractive illustrations in every spread, including a maplike panorama, an enviable protagonist—who wouldn’t want to be a Dragon Master?—all combine to make an entertaining read.
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-64624-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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